Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor:

Did you and other taxpayers of Roosevelt County receive a $1,000 stipend that the county commissioners gave to themselves and all county employees on March 2?

I have enclosed a copy of a request for information as to the amount the county received through the CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economics Security Act and other information to try and understand how the commissioners felt the best way to use this money was to put in their own pockets as well as other “County Only” employees. To date, I have hear nothing.

I sent the request to District 3 Commissioner Duane Nygaard since I reside in that area. It was my belief that these commissioners were elected to represent ALL taxpayers in the county, not just the privileged few. They did the same thing with the oil severance money, took the money for the same group, for well over two years after others had eliminated the practice.

It will be interesting to watch as the county is in line to receive more funds with the nearly two trillion budget Congress just passed. Our country is so far in debt that we may have to declare bankruptcy soon, but that is another issue.

The county commissioners’ phone number is 406653-6246. Maybe someone can get a valid reason that no other county resident endured a hardship with the coronavirus that rose to the heightened level the county employees did to justify this stipend. I am not aware of any county employee that lost any pay either directly or indirectly because of the virus.

Bill Juve Wolf Point ( Editor’s Note: This letter was scheduled to run in last week’s issue of The Northern Plains Independent but, due to an error when uploading to the press, it did not appear in the print edition. It did appear correctly in our online edition. Since last week’s online publication, the commissioners provided a very limited explanation to Juve, stating, in part, “Many county employees endured being face to face with the public on a daily basis. Protocols were adhered to but employees always engaged the public.” The commissioners also noted in the letter, “In response to other entities granting stipends to employees who worked through the pandemic we as commissioners elected to award a stipend to all employees. The balance of funds will be used for projects that will be enjoyed by the public in ways that will enhance the taxpayers of Roosevelt County from USA taxpayers. These funds received are discretionary to the commissioners within the parameters.” The commissioners’ weekly business meetings are scheduled at 11 a.m. each Tuesday in the commissioners’ office in the courthouse.)